Systems | Information | Learning | Optimization
 

Mixed-Integer Convex Optimization

Video: https://vimeo.com/189163584 Mixed-integer convex optimization problems are convex problems with the additional (non-convex) constraints that some variables may take only integer values. Despite the past decades’ advances in algorithms and technology for both mixed-integer *linear* and *continuous, convex* optimization, mixed-integer convex optimization problems have remained relatively more challenging and less …

The smart light sheet microscope

Video: https://vimeo.com/189185951 Fluorescence light-sheet microscopy such as Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) [1] is a powerful tool to image developmental processes in vivo with high-resolution over large tissue volumes [2]. The main advantages of the technology are the minimal phototoxicity due to the confined fluorescence excitation and the fast full-frame …

Geometric tools in information theory

Video: https://vimeo.com/184352560 Concepts in geometry often have parallels in information theory; for example, volume and entropy, surface area and Fisher information, sphere-packing and channel coding, and Euclidean balls and Gaussian distributions, to name a few. These similarities provide a simple way to posit theorems in one area by translating the …

Faster Projection-free Algorithms for Optimization and Learning

Video: https://vimeo.com/183315365 Projected gradient descent (PGD), and its close variants, are often considered the method of choice for solving a very large variety of machine learning optimization problems, including sparse recovery problems, empirical risk minimization, stochastic optimization, and online convex optimization. This is not surprising, since PGD is often optimal …

A Conditional-Value-at-Risk Framework for Multi-Stakeholder Optimization

Video: https://vimeo.com/154897631 We use CVaR to create a general framework for computing compromise solutions in a multi-objective, multi-stakeholder setting. In this setting, we sample the preferences of a population of stakeholders and we observe that the stakeholder dissatisfactions (distance to their utopia points) can be interpreted as random variables. Consequently, …

One Relaxation to Rule Them All: Strong Convex Nonlinear Relaxations of the Pooling Problem

Video Recording: https://vimeo.com/153826086 Our quest is to derive convex relaxations for the pooling problem, a nonconvex production planning problem in which products are mixed in intermediate pools in order to meet quality targets at their destinations. The story begins with a description of the problem and discussion of state-of-the-art solution …

Towards Next Generation 3D Cameras

Video Recording: https://vimeo.com/154227289 We are in the midst of a 3D revolution. Robots enabled by 3D cameras are beginning to autonomously drive cars, perform surgeries, and manage factories. However, when deployed in the real-world, these cameras face several challenges that prevent them from measuring 3D shape reliably. These challenges include …